


Tinsels and Crystal Balls

by chromission



Series: Catch Me If You Can [5]
Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Criminals, Alternate Universe - Detectives, Buzzfeed Unsolved References, Buzzfeed Unsolved True Crime, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, It is, M/M, Slow Burn, Smoking, buzzfeed unsolved au, circus date?, is this a date?, kinda got sexual there at the end whoops, shyan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-10
Updated: 2018-07-10
Packaged: 2019-06-08 05:52:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15236799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chromission/pseuds/chromission
Summary: After Tinsley accepts Goldsworth’s proposal, the boys meet again in a circus, this time as associates.Tinsley ponders what “partners in crime” entail for him and Goldsworth as they prepare to dive into treacherous waters.





	Tinsels and Crystal Balls

**Author's Note:**

> You'll wanna read the previous fics in this series before getting here to make things more cohesive.
> 
>  
> 
> Previously on Catch Me If You Can:  
> \----------------------------------------------------------  
> The elusive Ricky Goldsworth and recently unemployed C.C. Tinsley came to a partnership of substantial mutual benefit: an outcome of Ricky Goldsworth having his name etched in history as the greatest con-man and C.C.Tinsley garnering the respect as being best sleuths of his time.

1995

Baltimore

14:27

 

_It has been 6 days, 13 hours, 2 minutes and 43 seconds since Tinsley and Goldsworth have last seen each other._

_But you, dear reader, would simply say it has been a week._

The puff of warm breath against the air dissipates before Tinsley’s eyes as he lets out a yawn. With one hand holding the gas pump, he watches the fuel dispenser’s meter rapidly flip through the numbers as if anticipating a countdown.

The sound of gushing gas stops, and he places everything back in order.

 

Once in his car seat, he looks over a tattered poster taped to his dashboard that read:

**Dr. Lakshmanan Sathyavagiswaran’s Delirium**

There were pictures of trapeze artists, sea lions with silly hats, and even a singing hotdog.

 

On the bottom right were scribbles from a familiar hand:

**The circus is in town! Come join me.    -R.G.**

_Dear reader, what would you say are your opinions on circuses?_

_Love them? Loathe them?_

_Tacky?_

_Delightful?_

_Never the less, it can be a strange place full of eccentric characters._

_And during the early days of December, the infectious Christmas ambiance mingles with the cotton candy and peanuts. Carols and clown horns mesh into the ultimate cacophony to lure jittery children and a particular 5' 9½ criminal._

 

* * *

 

 

The slush covered road has turned into gravel blanketed with grey snow as Tinsley’s car pulls into a packed parking lot. The colourful tents and rides contrast with the shrubs and greenery of its surroundings. It serves as a beacon to the curious.

_And curious we all are._

Tinsley takes his time walking from attraction to attraction. With each turn of his head he sees something new; clowns and elves dancing in unison, bursts of greens, reds and gold, and a pack of dog with reindeer antlers on their heads run rogue.

He comes across a gathering of children all clamoring against their guardians and in the middle is an incarnation of Santa Clause seated on a large chair.   

A hand tugs Tinsley’s sleeve. He looks down to see a short figure dressed as an elf with a scarf covering half of her face.

The elf tugs him into the crowd of children and yanks her scarf down. Tinsley gives a soft “oh”, only to notice where Francesca is leading him to and groans. He tries to pull his hand back without conviction and gives a half-hearted whine.

“No, no, no. I am not meeting him like this.” he says

“Tough luck, C.C. You are about to.”

The herd of children trained their beady eyes to the tall man being dragged by an elf towards Santa.

“What are you doing?!” Tinsley whispers harshly albeit cautiously, he felt he shouldn’t reveal Ricky’s identity with the intent to not disillusion the eager children around him.

“Ho ho hoooo” bellows the figure in an ill fitting red suit; the fabric drooped on areas due to his lean frame and lack of foam stuffing. His white beard askew with the string perched on his ears almost visible.

“S’there something you want, tinsel-boy? You gotta sit on my lap if you do.” Ricky wiggles his glued cotton eyebrows and pats his lap suggestively.

Tinsley snorts at the gesture.

Ricky hops off his chair and announces “Alright kids, Santa needs a short break! Gotta fill up on some cookies and milk”

A series of disappointed “Awws” can be heard as he moves away from the chair and motions for Tinsley to tag along.

Tinsley looks back to see Francesca reel in some more parents and children. He turns his attention back to Ricky.

“That outfit doesn’t suit you.”

“Oh, well I just happen to find this in someone’s car yesterday.” Ricky says nonchalantly.

Tinsley stops himself from frowning, already accustomed to Ricky’s antics. Instead he inquires about what prompted him to do Santa impersonations in a dingy circus.

“I’m glad you asked. I’m looking for a clue to point me to the right direction.”

“Clue?”

“Yeah, and that clue is right here in Dr. Lakshmanan Sathyavagiswaran’s Delirium.”

 

They keep walking.

 

“You practiced pronouncing that didn’t you?”

“That obvious, huh?”

 

Ricky catches Tinsley’s poorly hid smile and matches it.

 

“What clue are we looking for?” Tinsley inquires

“You’ll see.”

 

Ricky takes a swift and sharp turn to the right and enters a tent with the words “Hall Of Mirrors” hanged above the curtain door. Tinsley almost misses where he ran off due to the vortex of people shuffling about. He promptly follows the shorter man.

In the inconsistently lit halls, Tinsley is greeted by uncanny versions of himself. He tucks his hands deeper into his pockets when he catches a glimpse of red and white appear around him.

The mirror Tinsley stands before, shows a distorted image of Ricky all lanky and uncharacteristically tall, nibbling a candy cane through the hair of the synthetic beard he wears. He looks behind him only to find Ricky not standing behind him after all.

Tinsley faces forward and eyes Ricky’s reflection. 

“I mean it. That getup really…really doesn’t suite you.” Tinsley chuckles

“Maybe you’re right” Ricky shrugs and walks to a side, causing the walls to reflect a kaleidoscope of disorientating red to bounce of one another.

The moment Tinsley takes his eyes off the mirror, he feels something abruptly placed on his head. His hands shoot up to feel it while looking into the mirror. A Santa hat sat snug on his noggin. When he turns around he sees Ricky walking between mirrors and disappearing into its walls once more.

“It looks better on you, yeah?”

Tinsley forms a small sense of pride at the notion coming from Ricky.

“It does actually” Tinsley mumbles. “So, what of this clue we’re looking for?”

“You’re a detective ain’t ya?” Ricky’s voice echoes out.

Tinsley continues to walk through the hall, casually making faces at the mirrors to amuse himself further. “Former detective, Goldsworth, former detective. I can’t help if I don’t know what we’re looking for”

“Right right, so it ain’t much of a clue really. Let’s say I have a trusted source laying around this circus and we’re just gonna stop by.”

Tinsley comes across the white beard Ricky wore on the ground and hears footsteps leaving.

“Hurry up, Tinsels!”

“Why do you have to be such a pain in the ass, Goldsworth” he whines as he catches up to the shorter man leaving the tent. 

Ricky skips like a giddy child as he reaches a smaller tent, Tinsley not too far from him. The tent held a dingy sign, it’s paint peeling off. The unsaturated colors on the sign forming the words “The Winchester Witch”

Wafts of smoke seep through the curtain door, the smell of incense cuts through the popcorn scented air that permeates the surroundings.  Tinsley passes through the curtain and is greeted by the site of chipped beads, colourful tapestry, aged ornaments and Hot Topic receipts.  Ricky impatiently waves Tinsley over to stand beside him. Not long after, the jingle of the bead curtain announces a woman’s presence.

She is dressed in Victorian garb, and the most prominent piece of her attire is her black veil. Without speaking she motions the boys to take a seat around the round table. 

The boys look to each other before taking their respective seats. Tinsley being on the right and Ricky on the left.

“Call me, Madame Winchester.” she bows.

 Ricky opens his mouth only to be silenced by the swift gesture of the séance’s hand. She closes her eyes and let her fingers dance before Ricky’s face.

“R” she announces “Your name, I sense it begins with an ‘R’”

“Oh she’s good” Ricky whispers to his side.

“Rrrrrr-“

Ricky leans in with awe.

“Ryan? Do I have a Ryan?” she asks with furrowed brows. Ricky slumps back into his seat.

“Hmm, you do look like a Ryan” Tinsley represses a snort. The séance turns her attention to him and eyes his hand, completely ignoring a pouting Ricky. With that hint, Tinsley stretches a hand out to lay on Madame Winchester’s fingers. A smug smile forms as he anticipates any scripted words waiting to fall out of her mouth. 

“Call me Tinsley, by the way. I wouldn’t want you to use up all your energy guessing it.”

He has confidence that he could read her better than she of him. The awareness of his years as a detective momentarily send his nose scrunching up in conceit.  Though all he had to do to snap himself out of it was the thought of the recent performance in his career and the short criminal mastermind he sat beside to.

“You seek something” she states

“Don’t we all?”

Ricky kicks Tinsley for interrupting again.

Madame Winchester prods at his palms with her thumbs. Ricky and Tinsley simultaneously lean in closer in an attempt to make out her findings. “You seek what you already have.”

 She snatches Ricky’s idling hand and brings it closer to Tinsley’s. She alternates her attention between their hand for comparison.

 “These hands call to one another” she runs her thumb over the black watch on Tinsley’s wrist and her voice turns raspy “I see a chain around them”

“We were handcuffed together once” Tinsley mutters.

The séance’s face turns quizzical. A slight narrowing of her eyes and parting of the lips and her words are quieter. “I also see a cage with a core of concrete.”

She brings their hands closer to each other, just allowing the sides of their pinkies to touch one another. Madame Winchester abruptly drops their hands and leans back into her chair.

Tinsley doesn’t want to humour Madame Winchester or Ricky, but he felt genuinely unnerved. She takes on a completely different visage when she lifts her veil. Shoulders laxed and head tilted to the side.

Ricky breaks the tension when he interjects merrily.

“Now now Madame, I don’t think my colleague would find much merit from your gifts. I’m the one looking for help here.”

“Of course,” she replies to Ricky, but her eyes are still set Tinsley.

“Ah, I almost forgot!” she pipes in a chirpier tone as if taking a whole other persona. She crouches under the table and pops back up with a crystal ball in hand. After locating a socket connected to a portable generator, the crystal ball flickers and gives a soft white glow. Tinsley doesn’t miss the half-pealed price tag and barcode sticker on the base of the ball.

Madame Winchester cracks her knuckles and wiggles her fingers for good measure. She looks at Ricky with expectation.

“You know what I’m looking for, Madame Winchester” Ricky stuffs his hands into his pocket.

“You want your hands on the lost golden Aquila” Winchester says with a smirk.

This is the first time Tinsley has been disclosed to what Ricky’s been after. He squares his shoulders and listens intently.

“It is across an ocean.” the séance hums, eyes transfixed on the crystal ball. “lined with walls of cone bearers. There -there lies the fortress that holds what you seek.” With that, the crystal’s glow dies. All eyes stay transfixed on it.

“Ah faulty wires” Winchester yanks the crystal ball’s cord out.

With Ricky seeming content with what he was presented, he reaches into his jacket pocket to retrieve a thick stack of bills and places it on the table.

“Hold on now. That’s it?” Tinsley shoots.

“That’s it.” Ricky beams.

Tinsley wasn’t sure if feeling flabbergasted had any point.  Madame Winchester chuckles and takes a folder out from under the table. She sets the crystal aside and spreads the folder’s contents for the boys to see.

A small “oh” leaves Tinsley’s lips as he scans the documents and pictures before him.

“That’s it.” she says with finality.

A folded piece of navy blue paper catches Tinsley’s attention.  It appears to be blueprints to some large facility called ‘The Silo’”

“Well good luck to you boys. I heard no one makes it out of the Silo.” Winchester says as she scoops the money off the table. Ricky gathers everything back into the folder and bids his goodbyes. Before Tinsley could follow suite, Winchester gives a warning tone “You still seek what you already have, detective. Chains and cages await.” 

Once Tinsley composes himself he tells Ricky that he found his colleague interesting.

“Madame Winchester? Oh yeah, she’s great.”

“So, I’m assuming all your colleagues have ridiculous getups in this line of work yeah?” Tinsley asks.

“Getup? Oh no, Madame Winchester is an actual séance, but she does like to throw in some baloney every once in a while.”

“So those things she said to me is just some gag -just her messing around, yeah?”

 

Ricky simply shrugs.

Tinsley copies his actions and looks to the folder in Ricky’s hand “Well let’s go over it, yeah?”

 

* * *

  
The boys find themselves seated across one another in a ferris wheel compartment. Tinsley knits his brows as he listens to Ricky.

In Ricky’s hand is an old faded photograph of a shiny effigy of an eagle.

 

  

 

“Now this bad boy is what it all comes down to. The Golden Aquila” Ricky is practically salivating, but his beady eyes are that of a child ogling a giant lolly from outside a candy shop.

_The Golden Aquila shares something in common with Ricky Goldsworth; only a handful of people know they exist._

_Both myths and the stars of conspiracy theories. Though, the Golden Aquila has a much grander history than Goldsworth._

_Infamous as El Dorado, it was the eagle that Julius Caesar’s legions marched behind and was supposedly lost after the Battle of Alesia in 52 BCE in what is modern Alise-Sainte-Reine in France. Stories of sightings and possessions over the centuries have lead to its infamy and its decay as being nothing but a simple story of an 80lb Roman golden eagle talked over bonfires when recalling the days of old._

“Why aren’t you excited?” Ricky shakes Tinsley’s shoulder “Were you expecting the holy grail? Let’s see, it is deep in the Swedish forests in a restricted area called Tomat-0. Ah yes, barely anyone knows it is a real place. It is practically impenetrable.” Ricky explains as he lifts a picture of a white building covered in moss and pine trees. The place called ‘The Silo’.

“Uhm now why would it be somewhere deep in some Scandinavian forest?” Tinsley inquires.

“Oh, beats me, I’ve heard of those who believe in it are the same people who want their hands on it. Now someone out there beat me to it. So, the next best thing is to take it and show it off”

Ricky lifts up another photo. It is blurry, as if the photographer was caught snooping about. It is a picture showing what appears to be armed personnel surrounding the building.

“These are tricky people, Tinsley. We’re gonna steal from people who stole from other people. So really, wouldn’t that just cancel theft out?”

Tinsley couldn’t help but wonder why Ricky would bring him along instead of his more conniving colleagues who are obviously experienced in this field. He decides to voice out his thoughts.

“Like you’ve heard what Winchester said, ‘no one makes it out of the Silo’. No one else seems to be interested disappearing into the Swedish woods to never return.”

“Am I that disposable, Goldsworth?” Tinsley laughs

“On the contrary, Tinsley.”

The ferris wheel comes to a pause and they stay suspended high enough to see the entire circus. Despite the sounds of carols and amusement ride noises, there is moment of serenity that surrounds the two. They continue passing documents and pictures to one another without speaking. Tinsley caught himself staring at the man before him, perplexed and giddy for a mad adventure.

C.C. Tinsley was going to help Ricky Goldsworth steal the Golden Aquila.

 

 

 

_Dear Reader, what is the worst thing you’ve ever stolen?_

_A few bills from your mother’s purse?_

_Your friend’s cookie?_

_Shoelaces from a department store?_

_Ricky Goldsworth reminisces his first break in. He snagged a taxidermized owl from the study of a house in the dead of night. Alas, he was caught by the owner, who grabbed him by the back of his collar. To flee, he used his quick thinking -Goldsworth stabbed the man’s knee._

_He was 8 at the time._

_C.C. Tinsley could only remember stealing a handful of times. All relatively innocuous enough just to warrant a stern lecture from a parent. He recalls taking a packet of chicken nugget dip from a McDonalds without paying for it._

_Tinsley has never set foot in a McDonald’s since._

_Now being firm accomplice of this plan, Tinsley may top his sparse record of larceny NOT with participating in this scheme but rather –for snagging the spot for being the world’s biggest idiot._

They stay suspended in their compartment, waiting for an inch of motion. In the small space, both their legs stretch out criss-cross one another. Neither minding the contact. Ricky stares out the window with a blank expression prompting Tinsley to ask what is on his mind.

“I dunno, Tinsley. What if we never met?”

Tinsley huffs, failing to sound indignant when muttering “Well I wouldn’t be dragged into this mess.”

A giggle cuts through the air and the wheel starts moving. Tinsley relaxes at the familiar sound only heard when Ricky was elated. He thought of how nice it would be to keep hearing it.

They estimate that it would take time to reach the ground. Ricky shuffles and produces a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. He taps a stick out and offers it to Tinsley who promptly accepts.  They both lean in to each other when Ricky brings a lighter out.

Tinsley tilts his head expectantly, cigarette loose between his lips and neck slightly bared. He keeps his eyes trained to Ricky’s hand as it repeatedly flicks the lighter.

The lighter produces sputters with no flame, but Ricky doesn’t seem frustrated and neither does Tinsley.

Ricky flicks his thumb down once more and in doing so, he leans in closer. Tinsley takes a sharp breath from awareness of the proximity and the lighter finally breathes out fire.

Tinsley was about to draw himself back into his seat when Ricky clasps his fingers under Tinsley’s jaw to keep him in place. With Ricky’s other hand, he brings out his own cigarette to press on Tinsley’s lit one.

 

“Suck” Ricky instructs.

 

Tinsley’s brows knit closer to one another.

“I mean ‘inhale’, detective” he chuckles. Tinsley chuffs but complies regardless.

As Tinsley takes a deep breath on the cigarette, his mind doesn’t focus on the sensation of smoke enveloping the insides of his lungs but rather on the bright end of the tobacco that lights Ricky’s cigarette.

Once they were both lit, the boys exhale simultaneously. The carriage momentarily fogs up and they lean back against their respective seats. It is only when they reach the ground do their eyes leave each other.

 

“You trust me, Tinsley?”

“Unfortunately…” Tinsley takes a long drawl before expelling the smoke “I, do.”

The carriage doors open, and they take their leave.

 

 

 

 

Tinsley convinces himself that he isn’t flustered, but he is a very bad liar.

 

 

 

-to be continued-

**Author's Note:**

> I’m back, baby! I would like to say we’re halfway through this series! This episode is an ode to Ryan’s love for amusement parks and that one Ruining History episode [The Most Insane Battle In History](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnMQzyc8tVg)
> 
>  
> 
> this was just self gratifying lmao. I had this word document open and closed for the past month and it was just so hard to put anything into words
> 
>  
> 
> comments are always welcome ;)


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